Category Archives: Videos

We desperately need a lot more of this

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Portions of North Texas are now three feet (one meter) behind on precipitation for the past 24 months.  The drought in this area is critical, as is the fire danger, and yet El Paso and other portions of West Texas continue suffering devastating floods at the hands of the monsoonal flow.  This state is really getting its butt kicked by the weather.

Regrettably, even significant thunderstorms are nothing more than light bandages on a gaping wound.  As many climatologists and meteorologists have made clear, it will take a tropical system — a hurricane if we’re lucky — to really break the drought, and only then if it brings to North Texas drenching rainfall.  We must honestly hope for dangerous flooding in order to recover even partially.  Area lakes are suffering as closures become more common, and some are nearing 20 foot (6 meter) deficits.  Fresh water is a growing concern.  Long term forecasts show continuing lack of appreciable precipitation and higher than normal temperatures.  To abuse a cliché even though I loathe hearing them, for us, there’s no hope in sight.

Here’s a brief video of a thunderstorm as it moved through a wee bit earlier today.  With a record setting heat wave this year and the last several weeks nothing less than 80°F (27°C) at night and well over 100°F (38°C) during the day, and that representing just a portion of the awful heat we’ve endured since April, the cool refresh of a thunderstorm in the middle of the afternoon is a welcome respite.  We’ll take more, please.  A lot more.  We are expecting torrential downpours overnight.  Again, we’ll take as much as we can get.

Don’t expect much from this.  It’s simple.  With thunder rolling in the background, a steady rain falls on the canvas of the bushes that surround my patio.  I can’t make clear how exciting that visual is for those of us living in this hell.

An entertaining side effect of this is how these brief showers cause some of the birdseed to take root and grow.  What sprouts doesn’t last long.  Within a week, the little plants wither and die under the onslaught of the burning sun and lack of water.

[let me say yet again how degraded the WMV file appears to be compared to the MOV and AVI formats; yes, the AVI file is the original (raw) data, so it should be better than the other two, but so much of the clarity, color, and sound depth is lost in the WMV file compared to the other two; not only does its color seem washed out, but the thunder is almost laughable compared to the others; it’s really a pitiful comparison that one would hope embarrasses Microsoft, yet it does not]

Vazra’s debut

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This is Vazra‘s film debut.  As far as I know, that is.

He has a desire to go back outside and occasionally stands in a window or at a door and meows while watching the goings on outside.  This video is just that kind of moment taken at the patio door in the bedroom.  It was captured today, only two days after he arrived home.  This is still a new and alien place for him.  Likewise, being inside all the time is undoubtedly strange and different, although I don’t know how long he was living outside before I captured and adopted him.  It was at least long enough for him to feel that that is the safest and most familiar place for him.  He’s lucky in that I know better, but he’s unlucky in that it will take time before he realizes it.

One thing you’ll notice when he turns to face the camera is that he no longer has any top canine teeth.  He was missing one when I met him (as mentioned in April and again in May); he had the other one removed because of its poor condition.  He’s missing quite a few teeth now, in fact, but at least that means the constant pain will go away and he’ll not be as sensitive to eating and drinking, not to mention any contact with his face.

Another trait to watch is his tail.  As long as he’s awake, his tail is constantly moving.  He’s quite expressive that way.  This isn’t the best example of it since it’s a very relaxed moment.  I’ll capture more as time goes on so you can see it’s the perfect example of perpetual motion as it’s always expressing something.

Finally, it’s now in question whether he’s a purebred Persian.  Even several vets and techs can’t figure it out.  He could be any number of Persian breeds, but he might also be any number of Himalayan breeds, not to mention several exotic domestic breeds.  Because his face isn’t quite as smashed in as one would expect — although that is not a definitive indication — and his hair is not long enough, there’s also the possibility that only one parent is purebred and the other is a general domestic (DSH or DMH).  Until he’s been inside long enough to stabilize his diet and environment, something that will cause his hair to grow back in its normal and expected condition, guessing is futile.  I’ll admit it may be futile even after he’s physically conditioned to normalcy since a mixed breed will be impossible to identify.

[again, the WMV file sucks; the video is washed out and the audio lacks any depth whatsoever; I tried both of the highest quality options and still got crap in response; the MOV file is much better, and it’s significantly smaller (by more than a third); Microsoft should be ashamed]

Out for a casual stroll

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During a recent walk at the lake, I spotted a great egret (Ardea alba) strolling through the shallows searching for a meal.  As I watched the wading bird, various ducks crossed its path at various times, and eventually I spied a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) in the distance who likewise was searching for food.  This video starts with the egret, includes some ducks in the middle, and ends with the egret in the foreground and the heron in the background.  Oh, and the damned plane flying overhead that remains heard but not seen.  Argh.

Also notice the great blue heron in the background catches and eats something immediately following his appearance.  It was unexpected by me as I didn’t even know he was there, so you can’t see much detail other than the end of the hunt, the quick catch, the head thrown back to accommodate swallowing, and the return to a lazy afternoon fishing.

This video is intended to lower your blood pressure.  It works as well for me when I watch it as it did when I was filming it.  Very casual.  No hurry at all.  Just relaxing…

[I apologize for the video quality based on my distance from the birds; I was out on the pier next to where I live; the only other option was to be on the shore, which is further away; I could have stripped down and gone into the water, I suppose, but a bleached white ape jumping into the lake would not have been conducive to keeping the birds calm — or in position]

Gettin’ some tongue

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Just what I needed on a hot summer day: a glass of ice-cold water.  Only, I assumed it was for me.  Silly human…  Instead, I get a bunch of tongue action in my glass.

Earlier today, I gave The Kids a treat.  It was their favorite, and that worries me as it’s not exotic.  Take two cans of the “wet” version of their normal food, prescription c/d, the dry mutation of which is always available to them, and add a seductive sprinkling of Kitty Kaviar, “an all-natural fish treat for cats of all ages … made from dried Bonito filets, carved paper thin, [with] no additives, preservatives, or by-products.”  It’s that simple.  And they love it.  Odd little creatures…  (They’ll abuse me for that remark.)

Tangent aside, they had their treat.  Loki, his belly filled with scrumptious yumminess, sat on the desk beside me.  Before the expected after-meal bath, is not a drink in order?  Of course.  A glass of ice water would be quite welcome, thank you.  As luck would have it, Daddy just sat down with one.

And so he drinks from mine.  But no panic.  They all do the same thing.  All the time.  In fact, there’s somewhat of a competition about it when first I go to the refrigerator to fetch a fresh helping.  Funny kids…

[I still haven’t a clue which video format to use; I like MOV for the versatility, but it’s not kept up to date automatically by Windoze and, as xocobra pointed out in his comment on the last video post, I’m using the latest version of Quicktime that requires an up-to-date version of the Quicktime player; using Microsoft’s WMV format at least means I hit a large market that has an updated player/set of codecs (at least I assume so); anyway, I’m still trying to figure out the best option…]

You’re just jealous of my fluffy tail

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Mockingbirds are violent.  They chase and attack whatever threats violate their territory (such as red-tailed hawks, other mockingbirds, and cats [and, collaterally, people, although I can’t guarantee they don’t attack humans directly under the right circumstances]).

I stood outside today watching a squirrel get smacked around by a mockingbird.  I realize the birds have a nest in the tree out here, and I realize squirrels pose a risk to the nest from simple carelessness.  Still, the birds attack the squirrels regardless of where they are and whether or not they’re even close to a nest.  I guess they have the same mean streak blue jays have.

This is the same species of mockingbird seen in this post: Mimus polyglottos, or the northern mockingbird.  (As a side note for those who don’t read Latin, that scientific name is equivalent to “many-tongued mimic”, an appropriate name for a bird that can learn the songs of more than three dozen other species for inclusion in their own calls.)  These avian warriors are the state bird of Texas (calling into question the “northern” thing).  You’ll see the bird attack the squirrel twice, and twice you’ll see the squirrel weather the storm with aplomb followed immediately by returning to lunch.  He has his priorities right, eh?

To make it interesting, the graphic I used below is a slow-motion version of one of the hits.  I was enthralled with it because the squirrel starts to react before the bird even arrives (watch his tail).  This happens the second time he’s hit as well.  Notice it’s only the bird making noise when he hits the squirrel.

And right after the bird hits him?  Well, the “tree rat” goes back to munching on the seeds and nuts I’d tossed out there for his kind and the birds.

I tried to get a shot of the bird near the end of the video.  You see a quick glimpse of him sitting on the fence quite near to me.  As soon as the camera is on him, he flies away (chicken!).

The video is 2:16 (two minutes sixteen seconds).  The image links to the WMV version and is 22.8 MB.  You can also see the AVI version (33.4 MB) here.  You can see the MOV version (28.2 MB) here.  Finally, you can see the MPEG4 version (6.3 MB) here (trust me, it’s not worth it).

Slow-motion of a mockingbird attacking a squirrel while he tries to eat

And yes, the bird continued to torment the squirrel for quite some time, and as the video infers, he was hitting him every two minutes or so.  Cranky bastard.

For those with a few minutes and the interest to do so, I’d appreciate some feedback on the WMV, MOV and AVI versions.  I’m trying to figure out which format I should go with for videos here.  I prefer MOV because I have more control over the video rendering, but I know WMV has a much larger audience (still, I prefer not to support MS with that silliness).  AVI and MPEG4 are industry standards and are generally supported on all platforms.  The former is the raw camera data and generally is a very large file (no compression), and the latter uses great but significantly lossy compression (so the quality plummets).  Anyway, are there preferences?  Does anyone see a difference that would warrant one format over another?  Any other comments?